Medication Assisted Treatment for Substance Use Disorders

Medication management with Buprenorphine helps patients with opioid use disorders (oxycodone, morphine, fentanyl, heroin, ect). Colorado Primary Health Care helps patients by providing the resources to help patients get back on track to a normal way of life.

If Patient Believes They are Ready for Treatment

Patient and Provider Will Work Together to Determine an Individualized Care PlanIf a patient believes they are ready for treatment, they first call to set up an initial intake appointment with one of our providers. At the intake appointment the patient and provider will work together to determine an individualized care plan that may include medication assistance with Buprenorphine.

If Patient is Appropriate for the Buprenorphine

If the patient is appropriate for the Buprenorphine treatment, we will develop a plan and set a schedule for either an in-office induction of treatment or plan for a home induction of treatment based around the patient’s needs and social situation.

Once the induction is planned, the patient returns to the office to begin treatment. Treatment varies based on each individual, as does routine follow-up. During this time we provide a complete full circle recovery process by combining the treatment with counseling services and recovery support groups.

Explaining the Stigma and Benefits of Medication Assisted Treatment

An excerpt from an online news website Vox.com explains the stigma and benefits of Medication Assisted Treatment. “One of the reasons opioid addiction is so powerful is that users feel like they must keep using the drugs in order to stave off withdrawal. Once a person’s body grows used to opioids but doesn’t get enough of the drugs to satisfy what it’s used to, withdrawal can pop up, causing, among other symptoms, severe nausea and full-body aches. So to avoid suffering through it, drug users often seek out drugs like heroin and opioid painkillers — not necessarily to get a euphoric high, but to feel normal and avoid withdrawal.”

“Medications like methadone and buprenorphine (also known as Suboxone®) can stop this cycle. Since they are opioids themselves, they can fulfill a person’s cravings and stop withdrawal symptoms. The key is that they do this in a safe medical setting, and when taken as prescribed do not produce the euphoric high that opioids do when they are misused. By doing this, an opioid user significantly reduces the risk of relapse, since he doesn’t have to worry about avoiding withdrawal anymore. Users can take this for the rest of their lives, or in some cases, doses may be reduced; it varies from patient to patient.”

‘There’s a highly successful treatment for opioid addiction. But stigma is holding it back.”“Buprenorphine is safer in that, unlike common painkillers, heroin, and methadone, its effect has a ceiling — meaning it has no significant effect after a certain dose level. But it’s still possible to misuse, particularly for people with lower tolerance levels. And there are some reports of buprenorphine mills, where patients can get buprenorphine for misuse from unscrupulous doctors — similar to how pill mills popped up during the beginning of the opioid epidemic and provided patients easy access to painkillers.” Information from Vox about ‘There’s a highly successful treatment for opioid addiction. But stigma is holding it back.”